Method of forming grooves in pavements between concrete slabs



Jam 27, 1970 A. F. CRONE 3,491,659

METHOD OF FORMING GROOVES IN PAVEMENTS BETWEEN CONCRETE SLABS Filed June 26, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 CONCRE A. F; GRONE EN TE SLABS METHOD OF FORMING GROOVES IN PAVEMENTS BETWE Filed June 26, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN ENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,491,659 METHOD OF FORMING GROOVES IN PAVEMENTS BETWEEN CONCRETE SLABS Alfred F. Crone, Williamsville, N.Y., assignor to Acme Highway Products Corporation, Bulfalo, N.Y. Filed June 26, 1968, Ser. No. 740,355 Int. Cl. E01c 23/02 U.S. C]. 9422 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates to the forming of smooth side walls on the grooves between adjacent slabs of concrete pavement. Some states have required that these grooves be sawn. They can be initially formed of somewhat smaller width by conventional groove formers and then sawn out to the required width. This can be done by providing the upper edges of the grooves before sawing with grooves of the desired width to guide the saw in sawing the remaining depth in the grooves.

It is an object of this invention to provide a groove between two slabs of pavement which is of less width than that ultimately desired but which has at its upper portion a short groove of the required width to form a guide track for the saw.

A further object is to initially form a groove between the two slabs of concrete which is of less width than the ultimately desired but which has at its upper portion a short groove of the required width to form a guide track for the saw."-

In the accompanying darwings:

FIG. 1 is a transverse sectional view of two adjacent slabs of pavement having an initial groove formed therein prior to sawing the groove, the sectional view being taken lengthwise of the pavement.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view thereof on line 2-2, FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view lengthwise of the pavement on an enlarged scale and showing the groove former initially employed before the groove is sawn to the desired width.

FIG. 4 is a similar view of the groove made by the former shown in FIG. 3 and showing the shape of the groove before sawing.

FIG. 5 is a similar view showing the groove after the sawing operation.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a groove forming device of modified construction having a removable top.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the top of the groove forming device as shown in FIG. 6.

The groove is to be formed between two pavement slabs 10 and 11 and a preliminary groove former 12 is shown in FIG. 3, which may be made of any suitable material, preferably of a plastic material to which concrete will not adhere firmly, and is recessed in the concrete before the same has set or hardened. This groove former has a lower portion 14 which is positioned between the two slabs 10 and 11 and is of less width than that ultimately desired. This groove former is provided at the upper end thereof with outwardly inclined top parts 15 and 16 which form at the upper end of the groove outwardly diverging or flaring edges 17 and 18 which serve to prevent the forming of sharp edges at the upper edges of the groove. These inclined upper parts 17 and 18 of the groove are less subject to breaking when contacted by tires and may be of various degrees of inclination.

When preliminary grooves in the pavement are provided with outwardly flaring edges 17 and 18 it has been found difiicult to keep a saw in the middle of the space between these outwardly flaring edges and the cutting of a straight line groove was consequently ditficult. According to my invention I have provided the preliminary groove forming device with outwardly extending, angular projections or ledges 20 which intersect the inclined edge portions 15 and 16 and have upright parts 22 and horizontally extending parts 24. The upright parts 22 are spaced apart a distance equal to the width desired in the final groove after sawing of the same has been completed. Consequently these extensions 20 of the temporary former 12 provide spaces 26 at the upper edge of the groove into which a saw may be inserted and these recesses 26 at the upper edge thereof will guide the tool correctly into the space between the concrete slabs.

In FIG. 4 I have shown parts 30 at the sides of the preformed groove which remain in place after the temporary groove former has been removed, and these parts 30 are then sawn out to form accurate grooves with straight, upright sides 32, as shown in FIG. 5. These parts 30 which are left by the temporary groove former may vary in thickness or horizontal dimension and may be very thin so that the saw is required merely to smooth the sides of the groove. These grooves after sawing are thenfilled with the usual resilient or elastic groove filler or seals, which because of the smooth sides of the groove, form very tight fits to exclude water or other foreign matter. These tight fits of the seals in the grooves also ensure a secure holding of the seals in the grooves. The bevelled edges 17 and 18 do not constitute positive guides for a saw and consequently the upright edges 22 form vertical surfaces which serve as positive stops to hold the saw in the correct path.

In the construction shown in FIG. 3 the upper end of the temporary groove filler is shown formed integral with the sides 14, but it will be obvious that it may be desirable to form the groove formers in two parts, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. This former groove has a main body portion 36 having its upper end closed by a top wall 38. The top of the groove former shown in FIG. 6 is made in a separate piece and includes sides 40 provided at their lower edges with inwardly extending flanges 42 which contact the two sides of the body portion 36. The top also includes outwardly flaring parts 44 which form the outwardly flaring edges 17 and 18 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The flaring upper ends 44 of the removable top are connected by a top wall 46, and the top wall is preferably provided in the middle portion thereof with a downwardly extending groove 48 formed to fit in a corresponding groove 50 in the top wall 38 so as to center the top portion of the groove former with the body portion thereof so that the parts will fit together as clearly shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 shows the top separated from the body portion, and it will be noted that the side walls 40 of the top slope inwardly and downwardly toward each other, but it will be noted that when the inclined upper edges 44 are pressed toward each other, as permitted by the inclined notch or groove 48 of the top member, the bottom edges are moved outwardly so that they will readily fit over the body portion. When the pressure on the edges 44 is released the side walls 40 will move toward each other to grip the sides of the body portion for form tight joints therewith.

The lower end of the body portion is constructed as shown at 60 and terminates in a pair of downwardly extending fins 61 and 62 which may be of different lengths so that these fins may readily straddle a plate, such as a center plate 64, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. However, in the particular construction illustrated the groove formers cooperate with clamps which in turn connect with the center plate which is held in correct relation to the concrete road bed in any suitable manner, for example, by means of a joint support having curved, downwardly extending legs 66 and 68 which may rest on the subgrade 70 of the pavement. These clamps may be of such form that the lower portions thereof engage the center plate and the upper portions grip the downwardly extending fins 61 and 62. These clamps may, for example, have a pair of downwardly extending legs 72 which are of sufficient length to engage one of the beads of the center plate, these legs being sufficiently resilient so that one of the legs engages the outer surface of a head or rib 74 and the other leg extends into the concave portion of the bead. These two legs consequently hold the clamp securely on the center plate. The upper part of the clamp has a pair of upwardly extending legs 76 between which the downwardly extending fins 61 and 62 of the groove former extend. Any other means for holding the groove former in its desired position so that it will not tend to fioat upwardly in the liquid concrete may be used.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials and arrangements of parts which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of forming a smooth walled groove between two adjacent payment slabs comprising:

forming a preliminary groove before the material of said slabs is set, of lesser width than that finally desired,

forming at the upper part of the preliminary groove an enlargement to the width of the groove finally desired,

passing a saw into said enlargement after said material of the slabs is set, to position the saw in correct relation to the final groove to be cut,

and guiding the saw lengthwise to said preliminary groove by said enlargement of the upper part to cut the groove accurately to the final width desired and with smooth wall finish.

2. A method of forming a smooth walled groove between the adjacent pavement slabs, comprising:

forming in the material of said slabs before the same is set a preliminary groove with walls less smooth than desired and of lesser width than that finally desired, and having outwardly flaring upper edges,

forming at the upper part of the preliminary groove an enlargement intersecting said flaring edges and equal to the width of the groove finally desired,

passing a saw after said material is set into the enlarged upper part of said preliminary groove to position the same in correct relation to the final groove to be cut, and cutting smooth walls on said groove,

and guiding the saw lengthwise of said preiiminary groove by said enlargement of the upper part to cut the groove of the final width desired.

3. A groove former of resilient material for forming grooves in the concrete pavement before the same is set and comprising:

a body portion having downwardly extending sides and a top, said sides of said body portion being spaced from each other of less width than the groove ultimately desired,

outwardiy flaring upper ends of said sides,

and outwardly extending ledges on opposite sides of the body portion below said flaring upper ends, said ledges extending outwardly to an extent to form the upper ends of grooves of the width finally desired, leaving below them grooves formed by said body portion of less width than desired.

4. A groove former according to claim 3 and including:

fins extending downwardly from the sides of said body portion,

and means cooperating with said fins for holding said groove former in correct position with relation to the concrete pavement.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,998,015 4/1935 Heltzel 9451 3,291,532 12/1966 Hatchet 299-39 3,324,775 6/1967 Crone- 9422 3,333,897 8/1967 Rhodes 299L-9 JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 9418, 51 

